30 years Kung-Fu-Cantona – Manchester United legend out of control

It was the craziest scene in  Premier League  history . The unpredictable Frenchman Eric Cantona from Manchester United kicked spectator Matthew Simmons at Selhurst Park Stadium of Crystal Palace on January 25, 1995 – and caused one of the biggest Premier League scandals of all time. 

,,F***k off, you French Bastard, your mother is a French whore, out, out, out, Mister Cantona."

Matthew Simmons is said to have shouted thes insulting words at the departing United superstar Eric Cantona during the match at Selhurst Park between Crystal Palace and Manchester United (1:1) on January 25, 1995.

However, we don't have this in writing, as his lawyers later denied this version. Anyway, it was English swear words without any Gallic translation. 

Not even a minute before, BBC reporter legend Clive Tyldesley told an episode from the series “A Big Mistake” (“Oh, I was wrong!”). After the red card for Manchester United's all-round forward, the unpredictable, tricky Eric Cantona, during the Premier League match in south London at Crystal Palace, he was sure that “we already have tomorrow's headline.”

What neither the good Clive nor the spectators at Selhurst Park – by the way, the first English ground I visited in 1990 – could have guessed: Seconds later, the much bigger headline followed. 

Kung Fu Cantona – From the series "Fateful Encounters"  

One, where the published photo became one of the three most iconic football scenes in England in the 1990s. "Kung-Fu Cantona" made an impression on the English football public similar to the crying Paul Gascoigne after England's "exit" in the 1990 World Cup semifinals against Germany or the players of FC Bayern Munich lying defeated on the field after the 1999 Champions League final against Manchester United in their silver-gray kits. 

It was just after 9 p.m. Matthew Simmons was sitting in the main stand at Crystal Palace. Feeling cold, he moved 14 rows down. Cantona had seen a red card after a nasty foul on Palace defender Richard Shaw and walked off the field with his usual composure. 

"I couldn’t let it slide"

Simmons reached the barrier in those seconds. Cantona didn’t pass by. He suddenly jumped up, kicked Simmons in the style of a kung-fu fighter, and lunged at him. Fists flew. 

"The guy insulted my mother," Eric Cantona later explained in court, "I couldn't let that go." No, no, of course not...

Hotel manager Cathy Churchman and her children Steven and Laura, both teenagers, were eyewitnesses to the altercation between Cantona and Simmons. They could never confirm Cantona's version: "My children and I didn’t hear what Simmons shouted because everyone in the stadium was booing Cantona after his red card." Cathy Churchman: "The kick also changed my life because I was so close that Cantona’s football boot brushed my coat." 

Steven Churchman also remembers his neighbor, who at the moment of Cantona's kung-fu kick against Matthew Simmons apparently had other concerns: "The guy next to me just yelled: Oh my God, I hope I’m not on TV, because I didn’t work today!"

"The night football died of shame"

Eric Cantona didn’t have to go through that. After "the night football died of shame" (Daily Mirror), the kung-fool of English football was banned until the end of the season, and the ban was extended until October 1995.
Cantona had to pay a fine of £11,000, which was almost 15,000 euros, and narrowly escaped a two-week prison sentence.

"The hooligan," as Cantona called the struck Matthew Simmons, received a one-year stadium ban. He declined a meeting with Cantona for the 10th anniversary of the incident in 2005. 

The physical attack on a spectator – Cantona, the hot-blooded Frenchman, broke the taboo in British football on January 25, 1995. No professional had dared to do this before. 

"It was the most disgusting incident involving a player that I have ever seen in an English football stadium," commented West Ham legend Sir Trevor Brooking on BBC. 

There was no sign of remorse from Cantona. At a press conference in the autumn of 1995, he confronted the English press almost with cryptic words, which he described as "a flock of seagulls chasing a freighter because they think they can pick up sardines" in a rather vivid manner.

What he exactly meant with this comparison, he himself didn’t know later. "I wanted to say something. It should mean something, but I don't know exactly what," Cantona said later. Out of the series "Come on, say something..."

Well, after 30 years, we unfortunately can’t put that together anymore…
Cantona was no ordinary player. Everyone felt that when the crazy Frenchman appeared in Sheffield in February 1992. "He reads Baudelaire and Montesquieu, which is still not appreciated in football circles. He writes poems and paints. He’s half-Spanish and the fans of his frequently changing clubs worship him and his game," wrote Spanish author Javier Marías in 2000 in All Our Early Battles over Cantona, who led Leeds United to their last league title in 1992. 

Cantona turned Manchester’s "Nearly Men" into a successful team

Despite or perhaps because of his performance at Selhurst Park, Cantona enjoyed cult status among Manchester United fans. "The King" they called him, some even referred to him as God, the gruff guy who helped the "Red Devils" win four Premier League titles (1993, 1994, 1996, 1997) and two FA Cup trophies (1994 and 1996). 

The Kicker Sports Magazine (issue of January 23, 2025) described him as "the man who turned a team of the subjunctive, a bunch of Nearly Men, into a winning team." True.

However, in 30 years, people will still first associate Cantona with the kung-fu kick against Simmons. He has to live with that. But: Eric, he can handle a lot.

When does Crystal Palace play Manchester United in 2024/2025?

Manchester United will play against "The Eagles" on February 2, 2025 at Old Trafford, shortly after the 30th anniversary of Cantona's kung-fu kick.

When is the return match in the Manchester derby, United vs City? 

On April 5, 2025, United will face their city and arch-rivals at "Theater of Dreams".